BMR Watts Link - Teaser

[00blkvert]

Hey, I work a very stressful job and need to spread the love with the stress so I'm glad you and the boss finally caved in! When I was home over Christmas my mom found a gray hair and I'm only 26... not a good sign!

Lucky you. I have gray hairs and I'm only 24 haha

 

[NickD87]

Kelly
Any idea on a rough in stock ETA on the diff mounted style aka will I be running one this summer?

 

[ford20]

Hey, I work a very stressful job and need to spread the love with the stress so I'm glad you and the boss finally caved in! When I was home over Christmas my mom found a gray hair and I'm only 26... not a good sign!

26?! I thought you were like 40 dude lol.

 

[B2B]

Interesting, that's 2 Fay2 owners already making plan to switch to BMR. Just curious what are you guys expecting to find from the change?

And in other news: Just got off the phone with Kelly at BMR. He finally caved in to my pressuring him (only took a year and change!) for one of their watts linkages and he convinced the boss to sell me one of their pre-production units! Should be here in a couple of weeks and a full review with tech to compare to the Fays2 on my car should follow shortly thereafter.

 

[Whiskey11]

Interesting, that's 2 Fay2 owners already making plan to switch to BMR. Just curious what are you guys expecting to find from the change?

It's hard to tell if there will be a real advantage from a performance standpoint from switching between the two without having the BMR in front of me. This is an opinion based on what we've seen in the photos posted:

1.) No more clocking of rod ends. The Fays2's passenger side arm has the rod ends in two different angles. Even if you clock the rod ends correctly there are points in the motion of the axle where the rod ends pinch the O-Rings around them. Having replaced those O-rings several times, I'm sick of doing it so I just deal with the extra clicking noise associated with the rod ends tapping the metal washers around them. I have fiddled with my Fays2 for so long trying to eliminate this motion and have not been successful in doing so.

2.) The rod ends are better protected. Even if we completely ignore the above, the Fays2's rod ends are far more exposed to the elements than the BMR unit's rod ends. The BMR unit has those adjustment plates for the angles to line up that will block a lot of debris from getting to the rod end. This keeps them cleaner and should improve the life of them slightly. Yes, I'm well aware of the boots for rod ends that I could install on the Fays2 but those wont keep stuff out forever (and neither will the BMR's unit to be honest) but I can still try the boots on the BMR unit for even more life!

3.) Double Shear: Everything is double shear on the BMR unit.

4.) It's hard to tell from the photos but I think there will be more space between the watts prop and the diff cover. I will try and measure this on my car when their unit arrives. Right now with the FRPP finned diff cover and torque arm, the Fays2 just barely squeaks by without ramming into the cover.

I fully expect these units to handle exactly the same at the limit since the principles are exactly the same. The other thing will be weight of the complete unit. I don't think there will be a big difference, either way, than the Fays2 unit. On one hand we have more metal in the frame of the Fays2 and more metal in the axle clamps on the BMR. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a wash.

 

[irishpwr46]

Interesting, that's 2 Fay2 owners already making plan to switch to BMR. Just curious what are you guys expecting to find from the change?

im a fays 2 owner, but not a user. i havent installed mine yet. pending test results, i would trade my fays 2 so i could keep everything under the car BMR

 

[B2B]

Whiskey, I totally forgot about the clocking of rod ends on the Fay2. While not a deal breaker, it does requires some care in setting up and maintain. It was one of the reasons I went with a differential mounted unit.

Looking forward to see how you likes the BMR unit.

 

[todcp]

I don't understand the Fays2 stories of noise and "clocking"?? Mine has been in the car for about five thousand miles and six track days on NT01s and is noise free and superb.
Installed it myself in my garage and you just need to be sure to do the work correctly. And Jim Fay got on the phone with me to answer a question as well.
I marked the axle clamps just to check on them from time to time and zero movement.
The seven adjustment settings are more than I need but the ability to adjust has been helpful and the changes very noticeable.
A well made and substantial product. The BMR looks to be a well done product as well.
I am in the chassis mount camp.

 

[B2B]

Here's a couple pictures of the passenger side bar where it is pretty obvious that the rod ends are pointing in different angles.

As mentioned before, they can be tricky to set up initially and will probably tear up some O-Rings as they goes through the full range of motion. Not a deal breaker, but a bit more challenging to install when compared to the other designs...

 

[Pentalab]

But what do I know? I'm still running the OE PHB - albeit with DIY-stiffened bushings - to within 2 or 3 seconds of what a local 1LE Camaro has done at NJMP's Thunderbolt course (keep in mind that I've only got a stockish 4.6L). The car has favorably impressed instructors both before I was signed off to run solo and afterward on offering right-seat ride-alongs. Most recently this past weekend involving a guy whose normal ride says Carrera on both sides.


Norm

Norm, are you planning on eventually swapping out the oem PHB + brace...with a watts link ? 1.5 yrs ago, I had the WL watts link + eaton tru-trac installed on the same day. Night + day difference.

 

[Norm Peterson]

At some point, most likely. It might actually simplify things if I first did the Torsen/Tru-Trac diff swap I'm also thinking about doing, and got some track time in with that before making much in the way of suspension changes.


Norm

 

[Pentalab]

At some point, most likely. It might actually simplify things if I first did the Torsen/Tru-Trac diff swap I'm also thinking about doing, and got some track time in with that before making much in the way of suspension changes.


Norm

Since the WL watts link is a differential mounted unit, I thought it prudent to have both it + the tru-trac installed simultaneously. WL provides for this super thick Al differential cover. The idea of course was to take the diff assy apart...once. The cxr bearings in the diff were also replaced on spec.
Dino oil used in the diff per eaton. Later, I added the Bob's autosports catch can to the axle.

 

[zquez]

Since the WL watts link is a differential mounted unit, I thought it prudent to have both it + the tru-trac installed simultaneously. WL provides for this super thick Al differential cover. The idea of course was to take the diff assy apart...once. The cxr bearings in the diff were also replaced on spec.
Dino oil used in the diff per eaton. Later, I added the Bob's autosports catch can to the axle.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Since the WL watts link is a differential mounted unit, I thought it prudent to have both it + the tru-trac installed simultaneously.

I realize that it might be more convenient to do both of those things at once, but a Watts link will probably include a couple of supporting suspension mods (and I really don't want to find myself simultaneously chasing both powertrain and suspension causes of different/unexpected handling behavior). Being retired and having enough tools to do almost all of these jobs myself means that the total time spent isn't terribly important, nor am I going to be out much more than the cost of some diff fluid and maybe a tube of sealer/gasket if, say, I was to do a diff-mount Watts link first and then do the diff itself later . . . or vice-versa.


Norm

 

[NickD87]

Keeeeelllyy
Any idea on a rough in stock ETA on the diff mounted style aka will I be running one this summer?

 

[Whiskey11]

Keeeeelllyy
Any idea on a rough in stock ETA on the diff mounted style aka will I be running one this summer?

I'm not speaking for Kelly, but I'm not sure their diff mounted unit is even in prototype stages. It sure didn't sound like it when I was chatting his ear off about buying the chassis mount one that is on it's way to me. He did say the goal is to get it under the price of the chassis mount but made no promises!

 

[BMR Tech]

We have (3) diff mount designs. They are definitely past prototype, but there is more to those than meets the eye.

The designs we have, (2) of them are completely unique - BMR innovation. (1) of them, is "somewhat" similar to another option on the market.

We have a lot to do, before we choose the path we want to pursue on that design.

I will keep people in tune with it, though.

 

[Whiskey11]

We have (3) diff mount designs. They are definitely past prototype, but there is more to those than meets the eye.

The designs we have, (2) of them are completely unique - BMR innovation. (1) of them, is "somewhat" similar to another option on the market.

We have a lot to do, before we choose the path we want to pursue on that design.

I will keep people in tune with it, though.

Well there you have it! I didn't ask because I don't have any desire to own a diff mounted unit and I only remember a portion of that conversation!

 

[cbass]

This is more important than wheel hop on a single model year!! Get this done and then take my money.

 

[BMR Tech]

But......we have GM's to build...

lol.......